1. Field of the Invention
Implementations of various technologies described herein generally relate to techniques for characterizing a flow production of a well and, more particularly, to techniques for generating characteristics describing the production performance of a well.
2. Description of the Related Art
The following descriptions and examples are not admitted to be prior art by virtue of their inclusion within this section.
The estimation of a reservoir's drainage area, the hydrocarbons-initially-in-place in the area, and the production time required to observe reservoir boundary effects in the production performance of any reservoir is of great interest to reservoir and production engineers, reserves analysts, financial institutions and investors. Traditionally, the estimation of a reservoir's drainage area, the hydrocarbons-initially-in-place in the area, and the production time required to observe reservoir boundary effects is determined by matching the well production performance data to a decline curve, estimated using a decline curve analysis technique (e.g., Fetkovich).
In order to obtain a reasonably unique match of the well production performance data to the estimated decline curve using traditional analysis techniques, the well production data should include both transient and boundary-dominated flow well performance data. However, certain reservoirs, such as those that are low permeability, heterogeneous, layered or naturally fractured, may require a long production time to reach the stabilized boundary-dominated flow regime of the well. In some cases, it could be years or decades before the production time reaches the stabilized boundary-dominated flow regime of the well. Therefore, there is a need to find a new method to find a unique match of the well production performance data to the estimated decline curve without the use of boundary-dominated flow well performance data.
Additionally, even if well production data include both transient and boundary-dominated flow well performance data, traditional decline curve analysis techniques use derivative or integral-derivative functions to analyze the well production data. Typically, however, the well production data include noise, and as such, the use of derivative or integral-derivative functions to analyze the well production data result in a further magnification of the noise and require arbitrary smoothing techniques that are not grounded in sound statistical or engineering principles. As a result, the resulting decline curve may be inaccurate.